Die My Love: J-Law Shoots Softcore

Jennifer Lawrence gets nude for attention.

So this is a Lynn Ramsey film and people need to understand what that means, a lot of the negative reviews coming out of this film don’t seem to be familiar with her or her work, and seemed to expect something different out of this film than clearly what it was promising.

This film is black-pilled to the core and suggests that some people cannot be saved, no matter how much you or they may want to be. Lawerance’s character is deeply troubled and only gets worse as the film progresses it is about her slip into mental instability and the uncurable nature of it. Rather than be a film that comments simply on post-partum depression this film takes it a step further and presents the very idea of family life as maddening, but also presents a counter-idea of inescapable trauma.

Jennifer Lawrence gets nude a lot, and has multiple scenes of her fingering herself, if this was done by a male director you would almost say is this voyeuristic, however, the film presents this as another sign of her mental decline, as women being sexual must mean they are crazy right, rubbish. It is kind of odd that since Jennifer Lawerance came back to our screens after a little time away, after she used to be on them all the time, she is now in competition with Emma Stone for who can get the closest to shooting porn without quite doing it. I wonder if this is a conscious career pivot by Lawerance or something that she has been ‘encouraged’ to do. It is showing as a pattern at this point, No Hard Feelings had a lot of full on nudity and so does this film it will be curious to see if her next role does as well.

Overall, an well made film that can feel a little exploitative at times.

3/5

Pros.

It is an interesting look into mental health that moves away from more trodden paths

The performances are good

I thought the film used surrealism and magical imagery in a way that was novel

Cons.

The nudity also feels uncomfortable at times

It is depressing

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Wicked For Good: Making Disabled People The Villain

Summary

Dorothy shows up and the Wizard Wins.

Now technically, the witch, Cynthia Erivo, wins as she isn’t really dead at the end, and Jeff Goldblum goes back to the real world in a ballon, but who’s counting.

Now this film struck me immediately as being dumb, characters will sing about how they are feeling when we can already infer that based on what is going on, on screen, they are feeling the need to explain very basic things through song. The metaphors and allegories the film tries to project are likewise basic, and lacking in nuance. It feels as though it assumes the audience are idiots. You could argue maybe they think the main audience is kids, but then why have a whole scene and song about the witch making up for lost time in the bedroom with the Prince.

Also for a film that clearly prides itself, on its DEI, look at any crowd scene and you will see every race made up, there is a strong ableist throughline in the film. So the witch’s sister is disabled, she dreams of being able to fly like she did on one magical evening, this clearly is a reference to walking as her flying is walking on air, then you have her impose laws that mean that the munchkins, little people, can not move freely as she loves one who does not love her back and she wants to restrict his movements. This makes this character outwardly a villain and is a very negative representation of disability, with the character almost going so far as to wish herself out of the chair, which is apparently bad, as it shows that disability is a bad thing rather than something to be celebrated. I don’t know about you but I think the people who made this film are bigots.

The numbers themselves are all as you would expect, it is just musical theatre the movie they all sing and dance in that same irritating talk/sing way and have the same quirky interludes. I must say in this vein Ariana Grande was particularly bad, not only were a lot of the songs, not just hers, full of very noticeable auto tune, but they also sounded exactly the same. She is supposed to be a musician and yet all of the songs sounded like the same thing rehashed, her ‘acting’ if you want to call it that was like wisely wooden, though Erivo’s was no better.

If you enjoyed the first film this one does feel like a less good more of the same version, and it feels a bit anti-climatic as the end to this two part ‘event’, however, for my money I would wager that this is not the end and that is why it did not feel bigger, I believe they will try and push it forward, not directly at first but by the time it is Wicked 5 all of the cast from these films will be back.

Overall, dumb and vaguely offensive.

0.5/5

Pros

It feels shorter than the last one

Cons.

The songs

It is dumb

It makes disabled people evil

It feels like a step back after the last film

It is still too long

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The Ballard Of Wallis Island: The Ultimate Stan Move

Summary

An oddball who wins the lottery, invites his favourite pop duo to his private island for a show after they have long since broken up.

This was quite a heart warming film and it doesn’t go the way you expect it to, you imagine the duo are going to get back together, musically and romantically, but in the end they don’t and that is presented as okay and a healthy step forward.

This film is not really a laugh a minute sort of film, I would almost hesitate to call it a comedy film, I would say it is more of a feel good film, it makes you smile rather than laugh. That is not to say there aren’t jokes in it, there are but that is not really what the film is going for.

You could I suppose argue it is a comedy drama film as there is a raw emotional side to this film, with the island owner being a widow who is incredibly sad, or the male half of the pop duo hating his life since the band broke up. This for once works as you do care about the characters so both sides of the comedy drama split hold up, you care about them and they make you smile but also you feel bad for them when you see how much pain they are in.

In many ways this is a rare beast these days an intelligent film that doesn’t need to be pretentious or tell you openly how deep it is, this is a film with hidden depth palpably throughout that is obvious to those who can recognise it.

Overall, a sweet film.

4/5

Pros.

The characters

The music

The charm

The emotional depth

Cons.

Some of the character arcs are perhaps not explored enough

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Now You See Me Now You Don’t: Rosamund Pike Is A Fantastic Actress

Summary

The horse-people are back.

So it was nice to see this franchise return and to see Jessie Eisenburg star in something again it has been too long.

This was as you would expect it to be a passing of the torch movie, they brought in a new team of next generation horse-people, I won’t say horsemen it is just not inclusive enough, I’m joking. They bring everyone back including both of the female horsemen from the other two films, but this really is a changing of the guard film. There are moments wherein you go are they going to kill off some of the older members, but thankfully Woody Harrelson makes it to the end of the film.

This film is very concerned with being conscious, and by that I mean there are a lot of lines about sticking it to the evil rich people, and redistributing wealth, and changing the world by committing acceptable crimes, that read a little too close to the vest these days. There are a number of lines where the horsemen almost see themselves as activists who’s duty it is to change the world.

Rosamund Pike plays the film’s villain magnificently, her South African accent is pretty flawless throughout, she is very talented.

Overall, the film despite activist blood in it, is still fun to watch and it is nice to see some old faces back on our screens, it is good brainless escapism.

3.5/5

Pros.

It is fun

It brings everyone back

Pike is excellent

There are a few funny moments

Cons.

It has some cringe moments of dialogue

The newer characters aren’t good

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The Keeper: Osgood Perkins Is Not A Good Director

Summary

Osgood Perkins goes back to his art house roots.

So this is exactly what you would expect from art house horror, a lack of cohesive narrative, dressed up as surrealism, things randomly happening without any prior set up, presented as shocks or scares, deeply unlikeable characters, explained no doubt to represent the human amorality, very obvious themes once again masquerading as ‘oh what does he mean’.

The thing is this should not be a shock, Perkins’ first two films were all of these things in spades, however, his more straightforward turns with Long Legs and The Monkey made one think maybe he had left behind his pseudo-intellectual need to be seen as an artist. Yet clearly that is not the case.

A weird thing you will notice over the course of the film is how stilted the dialogue is, as in they do not talk in a way any normal human would talk and it makes you question if the film was written by AI. Two examples of this phenomenon for you, firstly the two central characters are lovers celebrating their first year anniversary yet neither seem to like the other at all and in fact seem to hate each other, yet the film says that at least Tatiana Maslany’s character is happy. To return to Maslany there are also random bits of dialogue that aren’t sad particularly but which she randomly starts tearing up at, even breaking into tears at points, this again does not make sense with the scene as we are having it presented to us.

Overall, it is art house slop made to be deep, whilst being incredibly shallow and without substance, which is seemingly also being rejected in a rare show of unity by both audiences and critics.

0.5/5

Pros.

It is short

Cons.

It is pretentious

It is predictable

It feels like a million other art house projects

The characters are awful

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Curse of Frankenstein: The Original Hammer Horror

Summary

The age of Hammer Horror begins.

This is one of my holdovers from the Halloween period, that I am slotting in here in between major releases.

I thought this film had a cool vibe, and I liked that it did something different with the source material and though exploring Frankenstein’s madness, here played by Peter Cushing, was an interesting road to walk down. Seeing him do more and more evil things to bring the monster to life, losing his soul along the way, was a fascinating piece of juxtaposition for the later actions of the monster.

I would say that the film has pacing issues and could have done with a closer edit, there were scenes that went on for too long and others that could have been cut out entirely, this was somewhat offset by the strong framing of the man condemned to die at the beginning and then revisited at the end, but not enough.

Overall, the film certainly looked good and did something different with the source material but the pacing and some of the dialogue just held it back of being more than it is.

3/5

Pros.

The style

The new twist

Cushing

Cons.

The pacing

Weaker dialogue

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The Running Man: The Pretend Horrors Of Trump’s America

Summary

A kernel of punk rock wrapped in layers of modern day progressive nonsense.

This was a weird one for me to see, that being because I was unsure when it was coming out for me, you see as I have said elsewhere I have moved to Belgium, and unlike other things that mostly come out around the same time as they do in other territories, this film had a split release date. It was coming out in some parts of Belgium this weekend and some next weekend, luckily for me it came out in my part on the former. Maybe this is a common occurrence that I will get used to, but for me coming from the UK with one standard release date for things it was a little odd.

So that personal anecdote aside lets get into it. So firstly, let’s get a few things clear this is a woke movie, in every sense of the word, it parodies the right’s ideas of poor people just not working hard enough, it has the lead be a hero for leaking information to his union, it has the lead in an interracial relationship, as that is the only way you can make a white leading man acceptable anymore. As well as of course all the villains are white men. If you need a little more proof, everyone who helps the lead along the way would be a target voting base for a left wing party, effeminate men, urban minorities, and college educated women. Do you feel preached at yet?

The film does have some good action scenes and a cool anti-establishment feel at times but then it will ruin it by having a line like, I am from the half of the country that gives a damn about people, once again do you get it yet? The style and the vibe you would argue are the best thing about the film. The idea itself in execution works like a neutered John Wick, in the sense of when he is hunted down by assassins, however, rather than intense gun battles you get Glen Powell nude from behind, which access critic Grace Randolph had as one of the main points of her positive review. The desperation and thirstiness is strong folks.

For me personally the best bit of the film was Michael Cera’s character and his Home Alone esque murder house, that was a lot of fun, but the sequence was relatively short.

Overall, all the people who are calling this so timely, need to actually seriously question whether they are delusional and have a look around them, no one is dying on your reality tv shows. Shut up. Yes that does mean you Patton.

1.5/5

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Bruce Springsteen Deliver Me From Nowhere: Wallowing In Depression

Summary

Bruce Springsteen is depressed.

That description sums up the entire two hour plus runtime of the film. You don’t need to watch it or read up any further that sums it up.

It was always going to be difficult to do a drama biopic of the life of The Boss, as unlike someone like Kurt Cobain, or Amy Winehouse he did not have the same level of demons. Yes he had a troubled relationship with his father here played by Stephen Graham, but other than that he was relatively clean. So they needed something to play up, and boy did they.

This film barely features any of Springsteen’s songs as it is doggedly set in a short time period in his life, so don’t expect many bops. Do expect scene after scene of him looking on at his childhood home as he sits in his car. The film really plays up this sense of he is mentally troubled and feeling down to such a point where it beings to feel melodramatic.

This may have worked if it was about the wider life of the man, and this was simply one of the sequences in it, quickly cut away from with a new song or event, but no the film felt the need to fixate on this period of The Boss’ life and show how he let down the girl who loved him and her little girl.

Overall, if you like Bruce Springsteen or his music this may not be for you.

2/5

Pros.

It has a few good songs, but most are absent.

It is well paced

Cons.

It is depressing

It is melodramatic

It does not feature a lot of his music

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Bugonia: Life Is Out There

Summary

Emma Stone and Jessie Plemons team back up.

So this was a better film than Kinds Of Kindness I can tell you that, I would argue the main way that is true is the fact that it had a coherent story structure and tried to tell a linear start to finish narrative. There were elements that were surreal but for the most part it was all very straightforward.

I thought both Stone and Plemons did a great job as per usual, I didn’t doubt either of them and I thought the story was interesting throughout. I liked how the film kept you guessing about whether Stone’s character was an alien or not throughout, then gave you a satisfying and concrete answer.

For the most part I liked this film the only thing I did not like was how the characters abused a mentally disabled person throughout the film, I found this to be quite uncomfortable to watch. For example Plemons’ conspiracy minded character chemically castrates the fellow, and then Stone’s character convinces him that his friend, as in Plemons’ character, is dead leading to him killing himself. It is a very unpleasant thing to watch.

Overall, the story is good and interesting, it is simply how they treat the disabled fellow that holds the film back from being better.

4/5

Pros.

A coherent and interesting plot

Good performances

Well done, in terms of production

The ending

Cons.

The treatment of the mentally disabled fellow

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The Last Sacrifice: Rural England Is Really Pretty Wild

Summary

A documentary about a murder in rural England and its connections to the folk horror boom of the Seventies.

I had been interested in this documentary for some time, so to my delight when I looked and saw it had come out on digital I immediately gave it a watch.

I have to say I was disappointed with it, there are some interesting insights presented, and the final story about how the Teletubbies was connected to it is funny, but the documentary just doesn’t go deep enough for me.

In that I mean that a lot of the observations and comments made, strike you in the ‘yes obviously’ sort of range, these are all things that many people who know a lick about horror films and history already know. Whilst I can understand that this is made for a mass audience not someone who watches probably close to one hundred horror films a year, if you include rewatches, and who reads books on the genre space, I did find that it felt pedestrian.

Moreover, the film clearly cut a lot out, but what it leaves in raises ground for pause, as there are throw away segments and lines of inquiry that seem to go nowhere, and it makes you think the film should have been edited down even more to remove these loose ends, but as it stands it wasn’t.

Overall, if you are looking for something more casual or don’t know much about horror you will likely enjoy it, if you want a more thorough look I would recommend the folk horror documentary on Shudder.

3/5

Pros.

It has some interesting points

It feels like a love letter to folk horror

It sets up other better documentaries

Cons.

It does not go far enough

It has multiple dead ends

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